It's become one of the great mysteries of the show: What, exactly, did scientist Dr. Jenner whisper to Rick Grimes in the season-one finale of AMC's The Walking Dead?

Ever since that fateful day where the ragtag group of survivors fled the CDC office in Atlanta, the character has remained mum on the secret message.

Is it the location of a safe haven? Confirmation that all hope is lost?

We don't know. And, if actor Andrew Lincoln is to be believed, not even his closest family does, either.

"Not even my wife knows what he whispered to me," Lincoln told the Associated Press. [Rick] chooses not to tell people, so why would I tell?"

Lincoln said the message—which Jenner uttered right before committing suicide—should be revealed this season, and he notes it is "pivotal" for Rick.

"This is a scientist who seemingly held all the cards to what this epidemic is about, and I do think, you know, you would imagine he would have something of value to say on that matter," he said. "Well, he chose to kill himself."

The mystery has created a fervor among fans, and even the show's crew, as Lincoln told the AP an editor on the series actually combed through hours of footage and audio to track down the handful of takes where the sentence was audible.

I think it's like the glowing suitcase in Pulp Fiction; we'll NEVER know what it is.

But, knowing how fatalistic Jenner was, and the fact that he believed the zombies were our 'extinction event', I could imagine people thinking he told them something along the lines of 'our government created this' or something horrible like that. And if it were some kind of location of a safe haven, why wouldn't he want to go himself? And why wouldn't Rick share that information? It would give them all hope, which they so desperately need.

But personally, I don't think we'll EVER know. And now that it's building this cool kind of guessing game around it? I'd hate to ruin it, because no answer will quite fit. It was a classic enigmatic scene, and IMO? It should forever remain so.

And if I absolutely had to write dialogue for that scene? I'd just have him say something like, "I wish I had your faith, Rick. But I know better...."

But personally, I don't think we'll EVER know. And now that it's building this cool kind of guessing game around it? I'd hate to ruin it, because no answer will quite fit. It was a classic enigmatic scene, and IMO? It should forever remain so.

but but Lincoln said the message—which Jenner uttered right before committing suicide—should be revealed this season, and he notes it is "pivotal" for Rick.

Personally I haven't even thought about it. But if it so pivotal to Rick why not come out with it? Drama? Maybe that is why he has been trying to settle the group rather than move on because of something he knows? I don't know...That is why I am not a writer.

To tell you the truth I'm more interested in if he finds Lennie James again!

but but Lincoln said the message—which Jenner uttered right before committing suicide—should be revealed this season, and he notes it is "pivotal" for Rick.

Personally I haven't even thought about it. But if it so pivotal to Rick why not come out with it? Drama? Maybe that is why he has been trying to settle the group rather than move on because of something he knows? I don't know...That is why I am not a writer.

To tell you the truth I'm more interested in if he finds Lennie James again!

Lincoln could just be jerking the audience along, you know.

Often times, the last people to find out are the actors. If it were pivotal? I think he'd share. Rick has kind of a 'transparent' leadership style (you know, the one every elected official promises, but never delivers? Yeah, that kind)...

I hope he finds Lennie and his son again, but as for the Jenner thing? I smell classic red herring....

COOL!!! Ive watched it from the begining and it keeps getting better!!!! I usually catch it on Friday nites as I work sunday and had to ax the dvr to save money.. lol yes I feel even more welcome here now!

I cut and pasted a quote from creator Robert Kirkman in a WD news item from the website io9; I think it cracks the mystery of 'the whisper' once and for all (and in light of recent developments on the show such as zombies without bitemarks, it fits):

I don't have the first season Blu-ray to confirm this, but various posters at the show's wiki are claiming it's possible to boost and isolate the audio so that Dr. Jenner's whisper to Rick becomes audible. The results? "It's in your blood" and "We're all carriers", both of which fit pretty cleanly with last episode's Shane revelation, not to mention match a similar development from the comic books. There's a good chance this will get confirmed or denied in this Sunday's season finale, so I'll guess we'll see. [Walking Dead Wiki]

Dr Jenner may have realized that the zombie virus was (or would quickly become) airborne, or is now the new 'normal' (sort of like the vampirism in the book "I Am Legend").

And WD fans (all 2 or 3 of us)? Remember: Tomorrow night is the finale!!

Kidding.
But yeah, I think the 'biteless reanimations' are what Jenner was warning Rick about; that they are ALL carriers now. The graphic novels have made the point time and again; as when Rick told the group, "we ARE the walking dead." Eventually the virus could (theoretically) mutate yet again to where death may not even be necessary for it to take over. THAT would be pretty much the end of everything....

Interests:U.S Football, Formula 1, sci fi, military history, good books. I jump out of planes for fun.

Posted 18 March 2012 - 03:06 PM

I wish i had slept with Lori too , i do wonder though, why they dont have a big arsenal of weapons from all the dead military, must be thousands of various small arms and mountains of ammo just lying around

I wish i had slept with Lori too , i do wonder though, why they dont have a big arsenal of weapons from all the dead military, must be thousands of various small arms and mountains of ammo just lying around

Well, in the pilot Rick already raided the police station for it's ammo and supplies. I'd imagine if there lucky at some point in the future they might stumble across an abandoned military base (in the graphic novels, they were holed up in an abandoned prison for awhile, with a small weapons cache of it's own). Problem is, I'd bet when this epidemic broke out? MANY people swarmed to military bases and now those places are probably crawling with walkers...

The "Zombie Survival Guide" by Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks) has some good pointers about what to do in that scenario (the book is written as a 'thought exercise', but it is well-researched). It stated that you'd want to avoid going to places where masses of people would hypothetically flee to (hospitals, military bases, etc), as if the infection spread in those populated places, they become nests of the undead.

<< You'd think Glen would have a copy.

I know it's silly, but the book is actually quite well thought-out. Too bad Rick and company don't seem to have a copy with them....